Chapter Four
Remy
For me, the only thing harder than letting Raven leave without an argument was agreeing to keep things light and not serious between us. Because my mother raised me to be a gentleman—before I lost her, that is—I insisted on driving Raven home after she got dressed.
A detective at heart, I spent Sunday thinking about what makes her tick.
She keeps to herself. Though she arrived at the wedding with Stevie, Raven normally keeps her distance from people at work unless she’s acting in her capacity as manager.
Although she’s friendly and polite, she’s more solitary than not.
Stevie is pushy, however, and she managed to become Raven’s friend. Or as much of one as Raven will allow.
The only person Raven seems close to is her brother, Caleb.
When he and his young son visit the restaurant, Raven’s face lights up, and she always takes a break to spend time with them.
That tells me she doesn’t isolate herself from her family but she does from outsiders.
Me being one of them, and I’ve obviously gotten too close.
I’m itching to use my contacts, dig into her background, and find out why she’s so closed off, but I opt to respect her feelings instead. Which means I have no choice but to accept that whatever her reasons, it wouldn’t be fair of me to push her for more than our one night.
The thought doesn’t sit well with me and I spend a couple of hours at the gym near my apartment working out my frustration, along with my brother, Dex.
A former football player for the Miami Thunder, Dex is also a connoisseur of women—in other words, a playboy—but he’s smart, and he agrees with how I chose to handle the situation with Raven.
By the time I stride into the bar around eleven a.m. on Monday, I have myself under control and am ready to deal with Raven like my employee and nothing more. For now.
I walk past the front tables, noting the staff getting the area ready for the lunch crowd, nodding at those who meet my gaze.
I reach the bar where Stevie smiles at me. “Hi, boss.”
“Good weekend?” I ask.
She nods. “I slept in on Sunday and I needed it. You?” she asks in a serious tone, telling me she has no idea what happened between me and Raven.
Of course, she knows that Raven didn’t share an Uber home with her as planned but that seems all.
Anything else will be speculation unless Raven chooses to tell her she was with me.
“Same,” I mutter, though I wish I’d spent the day with Raven in my arms.
As if I conjured her, Raven walks out of the office area and strides over to Stevie. “When you’re finished out here, Russell needs some help in the storage room.”
“Sure thing.” Smiling, Stevie heads into the back rooms, leaving me and Raven alone.
“Morning,” I say, setting the tone of not making things awkward.
“Hi,” she says, clutching an iPad to her chest.
Our gazes lock. And in her eyes, I catch a flare of desire before she tamps down on any emotion. She’s perfected the blank look brilliantly.
“Good rest of the weekend?” I ask.
“Sunday was fine.” She takes the stool beside where I’m standing, lowering herself on to it and placing her iPad on the counter. “But it was no match for Saturday night.” Her sexy lips stretch into a sassy, almost secretive smile and my heart skips a beat.
I assumed she’d ignore what went down between us. Her acknowledgment confirms what I already know. Raven will always surprise me and I enjoy the unexpected.
“You don’t say?”
She doesn’t reply but the lift of her lips remains.
I pull out the seat next to her and sit, leaning in close enough to inhale peachy scent, which gets my blood boiling. “I’d much rather have spent Sunday in that hotel bed with you.”
Her cheeks flush an attractive shade of pink. I want nothing more than to run my nose along her neck and breathe her in but she’ll never forgive me if I act on that instinct at work.
“Everything quiet here?”
She nods. “All set for the lunch crowd up front.”
The bar itself doesn’t open until later.
“Raven, got a minute?” She jumps at the unexpected intrusion.
I glance over my shoulder to see her brother standing behind her, hands in his trouser pockets, a serious look on his face.
“Caleb!” She stares at him in surprise. “I didn’t expect you to come by today. Why aren’t you at work?”
Her brother is a partner at a high-end real estate firm uptown.
“We need to talk,” he says, his mood far more somber than when he normally visits Raven. “It’s urgent.”
Her creamy skin pales.
My protective instincts rise, but as much as I want to stick around to see what would get her so upset, I know it isn’t my place to intrude and I rise from my seat.
“Hey, Caleb.” I extend my hand and her brother shakes it.
Caleb nods at me. “Remy.”
I step aside. “Take my chair. I need to check things in the back, anyway.”
“Appreciate it,” the other man says in a curt tone.
Though I walk away, I’ll be keeping my eye on Raven.
* * *
Raven
My brother takes the seat Remy abandoned and sits down beside me, placing a white paper bag with familiar writing down on the counter. “Look what I brought you,” he says, in an obviously forced, cheerful tone.
Despite the unease settling in my stomach, I grab for the bakery bag, open it, and inhale powdered sugar goodness. “Mmm. At least let me take a few bites of a donut before you wreck me.”
I have no doubt something is wrong or he wouldn’t have taken the long trip upstate to pick up my favorite bakery treat, nor would he be here in the middle of the day.
Caleb works hard so he can be home for his five-year-old son, Owen, in the evenings and when they come to visit, it’s usually for dinner.
“Dig in.”
Caleb remains silent as I pull out my treat and take a much-needed taste. “Yum. Amelia hasn’t lost her touch.”
Caleb smiles. “She said to tell you hi and she misses you.”
“I miss her too.” But I won’t visit my old friend’s bakery in Chappaqua and risk running into my mother in town. That’s a confrontation I’ll avoid at all costs.
I place the donut back into the bag to eat later, wipe my face with a napkin I grab from the counter, and face my brother. “Okay, I’m ready. Talk to me.”
He puts his hand on mine and squeezes tight. “I need you to stay calm, okay?”
My heart skips a beat. “You’re scaring me. Just get it over with. It’s about him, isn’t it?”
Caleb nods. “Lance is getting out of prison early. In about two weeks.”
“What?” I blink, stunned, and lean on the counter for support. Early release is impossible. The bastard ought to serve every day of his too short sentence.
“Breathe,” my brother demands, moving his hand to my back and rubbing for comfort.
I pull in much-needed air. “How? He wasn’t due out for another year!” And I thought I’d have that time to prepare and decide what to do before he was paroled.
“Overcrowding and good behavior, apparently.” Caleb shakes his head in disbelief. “Good behavior.” He snorts, a scowl marring his handsome face.
Caleb is so good, so kind. The complete opposite of his fraternal, not identical, twin brother who lacks morals and a conscience. They do not look alike.
If it weren’t for Caleb and the way he’s protected me, I might have gone mad while growing up within my adoptive family.
My birth father ran out on my mother before I was born and when I was five, my only parent was killed, hit by a car as she crossed the street on her way to work.
I have vague memories of a soft voice and light brown hair. That’s all.
Cassandra and Reginald Kane adopted me soon after, a lucky thing for a five-year-old in foster care, where babies are usually the first choice.
I was brought home to meet my new brothers and I latched onto Caleb who I adored on sight.
But from early on, I knew Lance was different.
Colder. Meaner. And the older I got, the more I realized something was missing behind his brown eyes. He has no soul.
I sniff and pull back my shoulders, determined not to let the bastard defeat me.
My big brother wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me into him. “I wish you could move in with me and Owen.”
I shake my head, a lump in my throat. “We both know that’s a terrible idea. I don’t want to put you in the middle and besides, I will never put Owen at risk.”
“But—”
I pull away and hold up a hand, cutting him off. “Before you say Lance wouldn’t hurt your child, remember what he did to Emily. I won’t risk someone I love ever again.”
In an effort to escape him once before, I left home at the age of twenty-one and moved in with a friend in the city.
Not only did Lance find me, he beat and was about to rape my roommate while I wasn’t home.
I arrived in the middle of the assault, took a bat and swung, hitting him in the shoulder to get him off my beaten friend.
I shudder at the memory and swallow back the urge to throw up.
“Okay, but you’re safe, right?” Caleb’s voice helps ground me to the present.
I nod. “Nothing here is in my name. The apartment where I’m staying is owned by the bar and it’s alarmed.” I wrap my arms around myself and rub my goose-bumped skin.
“And no more visits you haven’t told me about?” He pins me with a worried gaze.
“None since I moved upstairs. I promise. I would have let you know.” After Lance was convicted thanks to my testimony, he obviously made friends inside because I got periodic visits from released inmates, telling me that my brother said hello.
Lance’s way of letting me know that wherever I go, he’ll find me.
This final move has enabled me more freedom since the apartment is listed under a corporate name and my lease is with Zach, personally, not through a property manager or real estate firm.
He doesn’t know what I’m running from but he hasn’t questioned my need for secrecy.
If he’s dug into my background and knows my story, he’s never let on, and for that I’m grateful.
Which makes me wonder… if Zach does know about my past, has he told Remy?
I shake my head, discounting either notion. Both Remy and Zach have protective streaks a mile wide for anyone in their world. Despite my deliberate attempts to remain aloof—until Saturday night, anyway—they’ve pulled me into their world. I know their family and their friends.
Zach might have his hands full now with his wife and her teenage sister, but Remy keeps an eye on me. If he had any sense that danger lurks in my background and my future, he’d have mentioned it by now.
“Hey. Where’d you go?” Caleb asks.
I refocus on my brother. “Sorry. Just thinking.”
He looks at me with a combination of pity and worry in his gaze. I despise the former and understand the latter.
“I’ll do my best to keep an ear out and make sure I press our mother for details on her favorite son,” he mutters, his tone laced with disgust.
I purse my lips at that. Cassandra Kane spoils her psycho child, turning a blind eye to his sociopathic behavior and taking his side no matter how bad the incident.
Always. Which is why I put distance between us.
My father, a weak but kind man, passed away from a heart attack seven years ago, before Lance tried and failed to rape me.
My mother believed Lance over me and I moved out almost immediately afterward.
If Caleb could get information from our mother about Lance’s whereabouts and plans post-release, that would help.
“Thank you, big brother.” I manage a smile but know Caleb doesn’t buy my forced cheer.
“I love you, Raven. If you need anything, day or night, call me. I’ll get someone to watch Owen and I’ll be there immediately.”
Standing, I wrap my arms around him and give him a hug. “Love you too. You’re a good man, Caleb. Your ex-wife was a fool to let my two favorite boys go.”
He chuckles but doesn’t reply. He rises to his feet. “Are you going to be okay?”
I draw in a deep breath. “Yes. Don’t worry about me.”
He shoots me an exasperated, are-you-kidding look, just as Remy strides over, joining us. God, the man is sexy. It doesn’t matter if he wears a tuxedo as he did Saturday night or a pair of black jeans and a button-down shirt open at his throat, the man oozes magnetic charm.
“Leaving already?” he asks Caleb.
My brother nods. “I have to get back to the office.”
Remy looks from Caleb to me, his eyes narrowing on my face. “Is everything okay?”
I nod. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
Caleb leans over and hugs me again. “Tell him everything. I need to know there’s someone here looking out for you,” he whispers in my ear before rising to his full height once more.
He says goodbye to Remy and tells me to call him later, then he strides out of the bar.
Once we’re alone, Remy stares at me, his amber eyes crinkled in concern. “Want to talk about it?” he asks.
I swallow hard. “Not really… but I should.”
Because not only has my brother made a valid point, but I owe Remy, the owner of this business, the truth since once Lance is free, I’ll be a walking target.
If after he hears my story he wants me to leave and not put their business or customers at risk, I’ll understand. Not that I have any idea where I’d go.
“My office?” he asks, tipping his head in that direction.
“Not here and not right now.” I need the day to process the news of Lance’s imminent release. And to figure out how to spill my hardest secrets I’ve always kept hidden.
“Dinner tonight? My place?” he asks. “It’ll be more private.”
I pull in a breath, ignoring the fact that under any other circumstances going to Remy’s apartment would definitely lead to more than just talking. Not tonight.
“Yes, that sounds good.”
He smiles that sexy grin I always fight to resist. “We’ll head over together around seven? Pamela is working the late shift,” he says of the assistant manager.
“Okay.” And now it’s time for me to do my job. The one thing in my life that until now, had been solid and secure.